Printing press mechanism



July 6 1937- B'. D. STEVENS ET Al. 2,085,833

PRINTING PRESS MECHANISM Filed Deo. l, 1933 7 Sheets-Sheet l July 6,1937.

B. D. STEVENS ET Al.

PRINTING PRESS` MECHANI'SM 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. l, 1935 July 6,1937. B. D. STEVENS ET Ax.

PRINTING PRESS MECHANISM Filed Dec. l, 1933 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 m m m m m f@MQ v m hHHU..|H. im@ 1 www QN B. D. STEVENS. ET AL 2,085,833

PRINTING PRESS MECHANISM July 6, 1937. l

Filed Dec. l, 1953 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 l f In 'M July 6, 1937. E. E. ETEVEEET AE 2,085,833

PRINTING PRESS MEcHANIsM Filed Dec. 1, v1955 7 sheets-sheet 5 July 6,1937. B. D. STEVENS ET Al. 2,085,333

PRINTING -PRESS MECHANI S M lFiled Deo. 1, 1935 7 sheets-sheet s l gmmm11s 157 1665512@ Jae .127' y 5, .JEU JE jf/uenlfnj:

Baril] Slaven/6*,

July 6, 1937.

` E. D. STEVENS ET A1.

PRINTING PRESS MECHANISM Filed Dec. l, 1955 '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 CilPatented July d, 137

a UNITED STATES PATENT vOFFICE ansa-sas y PRINTING PRESS MECHANISM BurtD.`Stevens, Evanston, Edward F. Dudley,

Oak Park, Ill.,`and Ernest A. Ven-index', Redlands, Calif., assignorsto- The Miehle Printing Press and Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Ill.,a corporation of Illinois Application December 1, 1933, Serial No.700,416

zo claims. (c1. 10i-189)' the bed-and-cylinder class, a transfer,cylinder is arranged between the impression cylinders of two adjacentprinting units'for the purpose of -transferring the slieets from theimpression cylinder of one color unit, after having received their firstimpression therefrom, to the impression cylf meer of the other unitto-receive their second color impression.

Such arrangements have the disadvantage for instance that any variationin the register which frequently develops during the printing of a jobdue to shrinkage or stretching of the stock and other causes, cannot becorrected without considerable loss of time, because on that type ofpresses such correction requires accurate and tedious readjustments ofthe sheet controlling means and other parts involved.

Furthermore, because of the several color impressions being applied tothe'sheets in quick with the printed side of the sheets facing thetransfer cylinder.

Moreover, it is impossible to observe the first f impression and colorsetting on a sheet, because the sheet, at the time it again becomesvisible to the pressman, after having been fed tothe press, has receivedthe impressions from all of the color units.

It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to eliminatethe disadvantages referred to above by the provision of a press in whichfor the conventional transfer cylinder a novel sheet transfer andcontrolling means is substituted which will make it possible to observethe impression of a sheet as it comes from the rst color unit, provideample time for the ink ofthe first or any preceding impressions to drybefore a succeeding impression is applied, as well as to readily correctany variation in the register of the impressions.

Another object of the invention is to arrange the units of such a pressin a manner that the 'J vital operating parts thref are rendered readilyaccessible to the pressman.

A further object consists inthe provision of means whereby the sheets tobe printed will be under positive control during their passage throughthe'press.

Another object resides in the provision of mechanism whereby the sheets,as they approach the registering guides, will be eiectively slowed downto assure accurate registering.

`A still further object of the invention resides in means whereby apressman `may disconnect any one of the printing units from the powerdrive of the press so that makeready and other work can be performed onany disconnected unit regardless of the other units.

'Ihese and other objects set forth hereinafter are accomplished by thearrangement disclosed in the following description and illustrated byway of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of two single color printing units combinedinto a two-@color printing press ang embodying the features of thisinvention;

Figure 2 is an outline in plan view of the printing press rillustratedin Figure'l, showing more particularly the arrangement of the powerdrive connections for the two units;v

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the relative position of the type forms ofthe two units during a printing cycle of the press;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the forwarding table which receives sheetsfrom the'delivery conveyor of the rst unit and on which the sheetsbearing the first impression are again registered before they are passedinto the second unit to receive v the second color impression;4

Figures 6, 7,'and 8 are sectional views taken along `lines VI-VI,VII-VH, and VIII-VIII the driving` mechanism;

Figure 11 is a cross section taken along line IH-XI of Figure 9; v

Figures 12 and 13-areide`tails of wheel arrangement used for forwardingand conthe suction 50 I trolling the sheets of stock while passing ovexlthel 1 power drive; and

Figure 20 is a section taken along line XX-XX of Figure 19.

Referring now to Figure 1, each printing unit has a frame 20, 20respectively, which frames are rigidly held in spaced relation to eachother by means of a base plate 2|. The iirstunit A is provided with anautomatic feeder 22 from which.

sheets of stock to be printed are fed to the impression cylinder 23inany known conventional manner. After a sheet has received itsimpression from the formr on the bed 24 of the rst unit, the sheet istaken over by the delivery conveyor 25 which in the preferred formillustrated is of the endless chain and gripper type. This conveyordeposits the sheet bearing the first impression onto a forwarding table26 on which the sheet will be slowed down and re-registered prior toreceiving its second impression, as will be explained hereinafter indetail.

Upon having been properly registered on said forwarding table, the sheetisl transferred to the impression cylinder. 23 of the second unit by anyconvenient means, preferably, however, by a rotary or an oscillatorystop gripper mechanism,

whereby the sheet is engaged while at rest in -registered position onthe forwarding table and transferred to the impression cylinder grippersat impression cylinder speed. After the sheet has received its secondimpression on the unit B, it is taken over by the delivery conveyor 25.of the second unit, and subsequently deposited onto the pile delivery21.

By the provision of a forwarding table between adjacent printing units,in addition to theendless conveyor shown, ample time is provided for theink of one impression to dry before a sheet receives its, successiveimpression. The pressmanwarding table, which means may be of any con.

ventional type, variations inthe register, that might developduringprinting, can be convenientlycorrected with the least possible loss oftime.

Preferably both units are driven by means of a line shaft drive whichreceives its power from a single motor, as illustrated in FigureZ. Thedriving motor -28 is mounted in a convenient position at the gear sideof the press so that it will not inl terfere with the accessibility ofthe space provided between the two units, i. e. between the delivery endof the first unit and the feeder 'end of the vsecond unit, in order thata-pressman may conveniently attend-to makeready or other work a j thatstation'.

The line shaft 29, which extends in both direc-v tions of the motor 28,is connected to the moto'r by any suitable means.; such as by achain orbeltl drive 30 and rotation-is transmitted simulta# neously to the driveshafts 3|, 3 I of the two units,

preferably by bevel gears 32, 33 and 32'l and 33 respectively. For thepurpose of disconnecting either one of the printing units from itsrespective drive shaft, .so that makeready and other work vtrated'inFigures 19 and 20, will be explained in detail hereinafter.4

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, the diagrammatic views of the printingcouples forming part of the units A, B are intended to illustrate thedirection and extent of travel of the forms of the respective unitsduring a printing cycle of the multicolor press.

'I'he inking mechanism whereby a lm of ink is applied to the type form34, 34' respectively, may be of any conventionalkind and may include afountain and fountain roller 35, a ductor roller 36, an ink'distributingdrum 31, a second ductor roller 38 mounted to rotate about the axis ofthe drum 31 and remaining in constant contact with said drum, steelvibrator rollers 39, rider roller 40 and two or more form rollers 4|.

In the unit A shown in Figure 3 the printing couple is illustratedduring. its printing stroke, namely during that stroke on which theimpression cylinder 23 is o'n impression on the form 34, the formtraveling and the cylinder rotating in the directions indicated by thearrows. 'I 'he extent of the full travel of -the bed 34 is'indicated in.broken lines and shows that when the form has reached its end positionprior to` reversing, the inner edge of the form will have passed beyonditsv point of contact with the cylinder. Prior to the yreturn stroke ofthe form, the cylinder 23 of the impression cylinder 23,l is tripped offthe form 34' y and the form traveling in the direction shown by thearrow receives its supply of ink from the vthe direction shown in Figure3, the formi. e..the

bed on which the form is mounted, isreversed and' will then travel inthe direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4. In that flgure theimpression cylinder 23 is shown as having been lowered ontothe fform soas to effect an impression onto the sheet During that part of the. .1printing cycle of the two units, the bed 34 of the unit A-i's' on itsreturn stroke and the impression 'cylinder 23'is tripped off the formand the latter carried by said cylinder.

receives a `111m of ink from the forml rollers 4i. During the entireprinting cycle of the units A andrB. th'e impression cylinders 23 and 23continue to rotate in the same direction.

. Withthis relative-'timing of the printing units,

. it .willbe seen that at no time will the :impression cylinders of thetwo units be on impression simultaneously; in other words, while onecylinder is on impression during the printing of a sheet on thatparticular unit, the impression cylinder of the other unit will be olfimpression, i. e. tripped off the form. This is 8f feature of importancebecause it avoids any overload on the mo'tor which obviously would occurifboth impression cylinders were on impression simultaneously.

By reciprocating the forms of the two units, i. e. the type beds onwhich the 'forms are mount# ed, in opposite directions, acounterbalancing effect is produced which will absorb the stresses thatwould otherwise be transmitted to the structure of the press by thereciprocation of the type beds.

The forwarding table 26, a plan view of which is shown in Figure 5, hasmounted thereon a series of sets of'suction i. e. forwarding Wheels 42,43 and 48, preferably of the construction shown in Figures 12 to 15,which figures will be described later. The latter two sets of saidwheels are rotated at a uniform speed, while the wheels 42 are given avariable speed of rotation in order to slow down a Sheet prior to itreaching its 4 registering position.

Rotation is imparted to all of said forwardingv wheels from anyconvenient part of the press drive, preferably by means of a shaft 85and bevel gear 46, see Figure 8, which gear extends into the drive case41 mounted on one side of the table 26,

vsee Figure 5.

The shafts-88 and 69 which carry the suction wheels 43 and 88respectively, extend through the side wall or flange 56 of theforwarding table 26, and the bevel pinions 5l, 52 keyed .to the freeends of said shafts mesh with complementary bevel pinions 53 and 58carried by the shaft 55, which is continually rotated at a uniform speedfrom the drive shaft 45, through the intermediary ofthe bevel pinion 56,pinion 51 and bevel pinions 58 and 59.

As indicated above, the suction wheels 82,A

constitutes the drive shaft for said mechanism,

carries at one end a helical gear or worm wheel 6 I, see Figures 9 and10, which wheel meshes with i a helical gear or Worm 62 provided on thecontinually rotating shaft 55. At the other free end of the shaft 60 ismounted a centroidal gear 63, see Figures 5 and 6, which in turn mesheswith a complementary centroidal gear 64 mounted for rotation, togetherwith a pinion 65, on a stud 66 threaded into the side of the table 26.Pin-ions l61 and 68, which are integral and mounted for rotation on stud69, preferably driven intoa bore in the table 26, transmit a variablerotation to the solid shaft 18 and therewith to the suction wheels 42,by means of a pinion 1l which is secured by any convenient means to thereduced free end of the solid shaft 10. The timing of the-centroidalgears of course is such that the suction wheels 42 rotate at top speedat the moment when a sheet reaches them, while from then on until theleading edge of a sheet is presented to the front guides, the rotationof said wheels will be decelerated so that they will have assumed theirlowest speed and thereby have suiciently slowed down the sheet by thetime it reaches the front registering guides to assure smooth contact ofits leading edge with said giudes. The train of gears whereby thisvariable rotation of shaft 18 is produced may be covered by a guard C.

Suction is applied to the forwarding wheels 42, 43, and 44 in timedrelationship and preferably controlled by the means illustrated inFigures 5 and 8 to 11.

In the housing 12 is provided a bore 13, see

' Figures 9 and 11, into which is threaded a nipple 18 for connectionwith the main air line 15, which leads to any conventional vacuum systemsuch by means of a. cover plate 86 secured to the houso ing 12preferably by bolts 81 and suitably spaced from the face 11 in anyconvenient manner so that said gears will be Afree to rotate 'betweenthe face 11 and the plate 86. Each one of said gears functions as aValve to control the vacuum to the respective suction wheels in theforwarding table 26, and for that purpose air openings 88 are providedin said gears in such position that once during every revolution of agear the opening 88 u therein will alignV itself with its correspondingair vent in the housing 12.` In the cover plate 86 and in alignment withsaid air vents 16 are tapped holes 89 into which are secured nipples 96of air lines 8i, which latter lead to the respective suction wheels inthe forwarding table 26. It will be understood therefore that vacuumwill only then be applied to said suction Wheels when the y holes 8.9 inthe cover plate, air openings 88 in the valve gears and air vents 16 inthe housing 12 are in alignment.

Said valve gears intermesh and are driven to rotate continually in onedirection by a gear 92, see Figures 9 and 10, carried by the cam shaft68 and held against rotation on the hub 93 of the worm Wheel 6| by meansof a pin 94 driven into said hub, the worm wheel 6I being splined to theshaft 68 by a key 95 and secured in position by a set screw 96 in saidhub and bearing against said key. v

The speed at which the air control valve gears 83, 84, and are driven issuch that for every ,sheet fed to the printing couple of the secondwheels and indicated in Figure 9, `vacuum will first be applied to thewheel 83 during -that period when its air opening 88 is in alignmentwith its corresponding air vent 16 in the housing 12 and with itscorresponding tapped hole 8 8 in the cover plate 86. At that time novacuum will be applied through the air openings 88 eitherl in Wheel 84or wheel 85. When the opening` 88 in wheel 83 is about to pa'ss beyondits corresponding air vent 16, then the opening88 in wheel 84 willcommcnce to move into alignment with its correspending air vent 16 andthrough its air line 9| will apply vacuum to the second set 43 of thesuctime the vacuum to the suction wheels. is out off by the continuedrotation of the valve gear 84, the opening 88 in gear 85 will have movedinto alignment with its corresponding air vent 16 and thereby applyvacuum to the front suction wheels 42 'in the forwarding table throughthe air line 9| leading thereto.

As indicated in Figurec9, the opening 88 in the wheel 85 is of anelongated shape, the purpose of which will be apparent from thefollowing de- -l'O scription.

The suction wheels 43 and 44 function merely to advance the sheets overthe forwarding table 26, while the wheels 42, in addition to advancingthe sheets over said table, act to control them during that period whenthe sheets are being given their front and side registering movement. Inorder tol accomplish this, it is essential that means. be providedwhereby the air pressure i. el the vacuum, to the wheels 42 can be-suitably varied to accommodate stock of different weights. I'hepreferred form of -such means is illustrated inFigure 8 of the drawingsand includes a bypass tube 91, which provides a direct connectionbetween the main air line 'l5 and the front suction wheels 42. The airpressure within the tube 9'| is` controlled by means of a pet cock 98,which together with a relief valve 99 are interposed, between said tubeand th'e main line 15. A second relief valve |00 is mounted on the coverplate 12 and has for its purpose to establish direct communication tothe atmosphere througg an airport provided in said plate and locate insuch position' that once during every revolution of the air controlvalve gear 85, it will come into alignment with the air opening` 88 insaid gear` and thereby brake the vacuum to the suction wheels 42. Thetiming of the relief valve |00 with the opening 88 in the gear 85 beingsuch that when the leading edge of a sheet is 0 about one-half inch fromvthe front registering guides of the press, the vacuum applied to thewheels 42 will be relieved for the purpose of avoiding buckling of thesheet when its leading edge reaches the front registering guides.

By the time the -sheet has reached its registering position,vacuumthrough the valve gear 85 will have been cut off completely andthe wheels 42 will thereuponbe in direct communication with the main airline 'I5 through the auxiliary by-pass tube 91.' 'Ihe amount of suctionapplied to the sheet through said tube is controlled by the setting ofthepet cock 98, only sufficient suction being required to hold the sheetdown after it hasbeen registered and to thereby prevent displacement ofthe sheet, also to prevent the side guides from pulling the sheet awayfrom its front registering guides during registering movement of saidside guides.

The setting of the pet cock 98 is constant for the majority of stockhandled on presses of this -f type, but for extremely light stock forinstance, or for cardboard, the volume of air pressure in the bypasstube 98 may be suitably varied.

The relief valve 99 is used for relieving the 65 suction in the mainline 'l5 and thereby in `the suction tubes on the forwarding table whenexceedingly light stock, such as tissue paper, is handled on the press.By suitable adjustment of the re- -lief valve 99, the vacuum can be heldto a mini- 0 mum so that during the forwarding of such, ex-

ceptionally light stock, the paper will not be sucked into the air ventsof the suction wheels.

It might also be mentioned here that the vacuum at the air wheelsV 44 isso timed with the grippers on the delivery. conveyor 25 that before saidgrippers release the sheet, suction will have been applied to saidwheels so that the sheet may be under positive control during-itstransfer from the delivery conveyor to the forwarding table 26,

In order that sheets to be registered will not 5 be thrown out ofalignment with the vfront registeringguides duringthe side registering.of the sheets, the front suction wheels 42, in addition totheir rotarymotion are imparted a lateral movement while a sheet is under theircontrol, which movement is accomplished by means of a cam I0| mountedlon the cam shaft 60,' see Figure 5, a rocking lever |02 pivotallymounted on a bracket |03 secured to the side of the forwarding table andwhich lever at one end carries a roller |04 engagingV in the cam groove|05 of the cam |0 I, while the other end of said lever is provided witha gear sector |06 engaging the teeth of a. rack member |01 secured tothe hollow shaft 08 on which the suction wheels 42 and associated partsare arranged as a unit to move therewith laterally.

In order that the wheels 42, which rotate with the shaft l0, may readilyslide longitudinally of said shaft to follow the lateral movement of the25 shaft |08, they may be splined to the latter shaft 1 by means of akey and key way or in any other preferred manner. During the rotation ofthe Ashaft Which-carries the cam |0I, the lever |02 .will be rocked andconsequently the wheels 42 30 will be moved laterally to and fro on theshaft '|0.

lThe lateralvmovement of said wheels of course Cil under the control ofthe wheels 42. Furthermore, 3

it will be readily understood that the suction in the wheels 42 will betimed so that during the returnl lateral movement of said wheels, namelyduring the in movement to the left as viewed in. Figure 5, no suctionwill be applied to said wheels. i

fThe side guide |09 which may be of any wellknown conventionalconstruction, is imparted its lateral movement preferably by means of acam IIO pinned to the cam shaft 60, which cam engages a roller I||mounted on a stud I |2 carried by a fork 3, the stem II4 o'f which ispivotally connected to a bell crank lever H5, one arm of which' isprovided with a gear sector I I6 engaging in a rack bar Il adapted toreciprocate in the front end of the forwarding table 26 and one end o-fwhich carries the side registering guide |09.

The arrangement illustrated in Figures 5 and 7 functionsto side registera sheet in a direction to the right of Figure 5. 'Ihis condition,however, may be reversed simply by turning the cam |06 180 on the shaft60 and by also mounting the side registering guides |09 at the left handside of the rack barA ||'l instead of at the right hand side as shown inFigure 5.

While any suitable type of suction wheels may be used in connection withthis invention, a preferred construction is illustrated in Figures 12 to15 inclusive, according to which each forwarding wheel unit comprises aseries of discs l I8, provided wi'th perforations I|9 and slots |20, oneof `which extends from every perforation to the periphery of the discs.Each one of said discs is secured to the shaft 'l0 preferably-by a key|2`I in order to rotate with said shaft. On the hollow stationary shaft|08 are mounted connecting brackets |22 which are secured againstlateral displacement on said shaft by means of set screws |23 or thelike and in such position that the bore |24 provided in each bracketwill communicate witha port hole |25 in said shaft'. Lateral air 75vided in the discs |20. By means of these discs an air tight seal isprovided between the bracket |22 and the discs or wheels H8. Theouterfaces of said wheels are sealed by means of discs |3| looselymounted on the shaft 10. In order to maintain constant sealing conditionbetween the bracket |22, wheels ||8 and sealing discs |28 and 13|,compression springs |32 are interposed between the latter discs andretention collars |33 which are adjustably mounted on the shaft 10 andare held in position by means of set screws |34, whereby the tension ofsaid springs and therewith the degree of pressure applied between saidwheels and sealing discs may be .suitably varied. -With this arrangementit is possible' to readily dismantle the entire suction wheel unit forreplacement of any parts or for cleaning purposes.

In order to facilitate cleaning out of the bore |24 in the brackets |22an opening is provided to communicate with the inner end of said boreand which opening is normally sealed by means of a screw |35.

It will be apparent from this disclosure that l. during the rotation ofthe shaft 10 and therewith of the wheels i8, the perforations H9 in thelatter will successively comeinto alignment with the ports |21 in thediscs |28 so that suction will be applied through the corresponding slot|20 of each perforation as it passes the port |21. Each hollow shaft |08of the different suction wheel units is connected to its respectivesuction controlling means by way of air lines 9| as indicated in Figures5 and 11.

Referring now to the arrangement according to which, as shown in brokenlines in Figure 1, the delivery conveyor 25, together with theforwarding table 26 and its associated parts, may be swung up out'oftheir operative position so that a pressman will have convenient accessbetween the two units for makeready and other work, the preferred meanswhereby these comparatively heavy parts may be manipulated with ease andsafety to the pressman, are illustrated in Figures 16 to 18.

'I'he mechanism for accomplishing this includes Lsubstantially'yertically extending rack bars |36 and |31, the. upperends of which are pivotally secured in any convenient manner either tothe delivery conveyor 25 or to the forwarding table 26 at each side ofthe press. The lower portions of said rack bars are arranged to slidewithin guide members |38 and |33, both of which are loosely carried on ashaft |40 mounted at each end in the sides of the frame |4| of the unitA. Pinions |42 and |43` are keyed to said shaft to rotate therewith andare positioned within said guidemembers to be in constant-mesh vwiththe. racks |36 and |31 respectively so that, depending on the directionof rotation of shaft |40, the racks and therewith the delivery conveyorand forwarding table are moved either up or down.

Rotation is imparted to said shaft by any suitable means such as a wormand worm wheel drive inclosed in a housing' |44 and including' a worm'wheel |45 keyed to the outer end of the shaft |40, and a worm |46meshing with said wheel, see Figure i7. Said worm |46 has its bearingsin tegral part of the housing |44 and bolted to the frame |4| by meanslof bolts |49. That bearing brackets |41 and |48, preferably forming aniny journal of the worm |46, which is carried inthe y bracket |41 has anextension to which is keyed a bevel pinion |50, the other bearingjournal |5| of said worm is extended beyond the bracket |48 and hasmounted thereon a thrust bearing |52. The inner end of a stub shaft |53is supported by a suitable bearing in the frame |4| and has securedthereto al bevel ,pinion |54, which meshes with the bevel pinion |50 onthe journal of the worm |46. The free end of said stub shaft extendsthrough a bearing portion |55 provided in the housing |44 in order tocarry a handle |56 whereby the stub shaft |53 may be rotated byengagement of a slot |51 in said handle with a pin |58 driven into thefree end of said stub shaft.

In order to counterbalance the weight of the conveyor 25 and forwardingtable 26 during their up and down movement; a coil spring |59 supportedby a hollow shaft or sleeve |60 is provided, which sleeve embracestheshaft |40. One end of said spring is anchored at |6| to the frame |4|of the press while the other end of said spring is secured in anysuitable manner to a disc |62.

'Said disc is rigidly mounted on the shaft |40 while during the upwardmovement of said parts, I

the power stored up in the tensioned spring will be transmitted to theracks |36 and |31 by means of the pinions |42 and |43 respectively andthereby act as a counterbalancing means for'the parts to be moved. Itwill be understood that any convenient means may be used for adjustingthe tension of the spring |59.

The mechanism whereby any one of the press units may be disconnectedfrom its respective driving shaft in order to render a unit inoperativefor the purpose set forth hereinabove, is illustrated in Figures 19 and20.

The ily wheel shaft |10, which is supported in suitable bearings |1| inthe press frame 20 and through which the bed motion mechanism of a unitis driven, carries at its free end a fly wheel |12,whi le a pinion|13'is keyed to that portion of said shaft which is located between thepress frame and said fly wheel. The pinion |13 meshes with a pinion |14,which latter is mounted on. the free end of the shaft 3| to rotatefreely thereon. .The hub |15. of the pinion |14 is formed with a recess|16 which extends laterally .across the entire face of said hub so as toform a clutch member. A complementary clutch member |11 with aprojection |18 extending across the inner face thereof and adapted toengage said recess |16 in the hub |15, is splined onto the extreme enclvof the shaft 3| by means of a key |80, see Figure 2d, recessed in saidclutch member .|11 so that the latter may beslid Vlongitudinally of theshaft end into and out of its. operative position with reiation to thepinion |14, i. e. the recess |16 in its hub |15.

Asishown in Figure 20, a spring actuated plunger |8 having an operatingknob |82, is provided in the clutch member |11, which plunger, when saidmember is in its operative position, engages a recess |83 formed in theshaft v3|-in order to prevent the projection |18 from becoming dis-Iengaged from its complementary recess in the bers while a pressman isattending to certain work on the respective unit..

In order to facilitate the manipulation of the member |11, a handle |85is provided thereon which the pressman engages, after having withdrawnsaid plunger |82 to move said member into its required position, that iseither into or out of its operative position. 'A pin |86 driven into theextreme end of the shaft 3| serves to retain the clutch member |11 onsaid-shaft.

It will therefore be seen that upon disengagement of the clutch' member|11 from the recess |16 in the hub |15, the pinion |14, which is`mounted free on the shaft 3|, will not drive the pinion |13 on shaft |10and therefore therespective unit will be disconnected from the powerdrive of the press. The operator working on that .particularunit,'however, may if necessary turn over the press by hand by rotatingthe ily wheel |12.

We claim:

1. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units arranged in tandem, each of said units having a printingcouple comprising an impression cylinder and a cooperating type bed, anendlesschain gripper conveyor on one printing unit, a forwarding tableassociated with said conveyor to receive printed sheets in timedsequence therefrom, and means on said table for controlling sheets andregistering them beforethey are fed into an adjacen unit.` 2. In amulticolor printing press, the combination of a, plurality of printingunits arranged `for-successive printing operation, each of said' unitshaving a printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and acooperating printing form carrying member, a pivoted endless chaingripper conveyor on one printing unit and adapted to be moved out of itsoperative position, a forwarding table associated with said conveyor tomove therewith and to receive printed sheets in timed sequencetherefrom, and means on said table for controlling sheets andregistering them before they are fed into an adjacent unit.

3. Ina multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units arranged in ,i

tandem, each of said units having a printing couple comprising animpression cylinder and a cooperating type bed, a delivery gripperconveyor on one printing unit, a forwarding table rigidly associatedwith said conveyor to receive printed sheets therefrom, and means formoving said conveyor and table as a` unit into and out of theiroperative position.

4. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units arranged in l tandem, each of said units havinga printingcouple comprising an impression cylinder and a cooperating type bed, adelivery conveyor on one printing unit and adapted tobe movedl out of.

-2,osis',`sss

'any accidental engagement of the clutch memwith said conveyor toreceive printed sheets therefrom and to move therewith, and means forbalancing said conveyor and table, during their movement out of theiroperative position.

6. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units arranged in tandem and each having an impressioncylinder, a delivery gripper conveyor arranged to'remove a printed sheetfrom the impression cylinder of one unit, a forwarding table associatedwith said conveyor vto receive a sheet therefrom, suction wheels toengage and advance sheets deposited l onto said table by said conveyor,and means to control the suction on said wheels so that the latter willengage a sheet before it is released by said conveyor.

7. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bedcooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one ofsaid /units, and endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove aprinted sheet from one of said printing units and deposit it onto theregisteringtable associated with an 'adjacent unit, said sheet conveyingmeans maintaining positive control of the sheet while transferring thesame from said printing unit to said registering table.

it onto the registering table associated with an adjacent unit.

9. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bedcooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one ofsaid units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tables,and endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove a printed sheet fromthe impression cylinder of one of said units vand deposit it onto thesheet forwarding means of the registering table associated with anadjacent unit.

10. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bedcooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one ofsaid units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tables,and endless gripper chains adapted to remove a printed sheet from theimpression cylinder of one of said umts and deposit it onto the sheetforwarding means of the registering table associated with an adjacentunit.

11. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bedcooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one ofsaid units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tablesand comprising rotary suction members, and endless sheet conveying meansadapted to remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder of one ofsaid units and deposit it onto the suction members of the registeringtable associated with an adjacent unit.

12. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units, each comprising an impression cylinder and cooperatingtype bed, a registering table associated with each one of said units,sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tables and comprisingrotary suction members adapted to slow down sheets for iront registerand move sheets laterally for side register, and endless sheet conveyingmeans adapted to remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder ofone of said units and deposit it onto the suction members of theregistering table associated with an' adjacent unit.

14. In a multicolor printing press', the combination of a plurality ofprinting units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bedcooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one ofsaid units, endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove a printedsheet from one of said printing units and deposit it onto theregistering table associated with an adjacent unit, and means providedby said sheet conveying means maintaining positive control of the sheetwhile the same is being transferred from said printing unit to saidregistering table, the registering table and the sheet conveying meanswhich operate between adjacent printing units being arranged to swing asa unit out of their operative position for the purpose ofprovidingconvenient access to both type beds of said units.

15. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bedcooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one ofsaid units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tables,and endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove a printed sheet fromthe impression cylinder of one of said units and deposit it ontothesheet forwarding means of the registering table associated with anadjacent unit,4 the registering. table and the sheet conveying meanswhich operate between adjacent printing units being arranged to swing asa unit out of' their operative position for the purpose of providingconvenient access to both type beds of said units.

16. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bedcooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one ofsaid units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tablesand comprising rotary suction members, and endless sheet conveying meansadapted to remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder of one ofsaid units and deposit it onto the suction members of the registeringtable associated with an adjacent unit, the registering table and thesheet conveying means which operate between adjacent printing unitsbeing -arranged to swing as a unit out of their operative position forthe purpose of providing convenient access to both type beds of saidunits.

1'7. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units arranged in tandem and each comprising an impression icylinder and a reciproc-ating type bed cooperating 10 therewith, aregistering table associated with each one of said units, and endlessgripper chains adapted to remove a printed sheet from the impressioncylinder of one of said units and deposit it onto the registering tableassociated with an adjacent unit, the registering table and the endlessgripper chains which operate between adjacent printing units beingarranged to swing as a unit out of their operative position for thepurpose of providing convenient access to both type beds of said units.

18. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bedcooperating therewith, a registering table` associated with each one ofsaid units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tables,and endless gripper chains adapted to remove a printed sheet from theimpression cylinder of one of said units and deposit it onto the sheetforwarding 30.

means of the registering table associated with an adjacent unit, theregistering table and the endless gripper chains which operate betweenadjacent printing units being arranged to swing as a unit out vof theiroperative position for the purpose of providing convenient access toboth type beds of said units.

19. In a multicolor printing press, the cornbination of a plurality ofprinting units, each comprising an impression cylinder'v and a type bedco- 40 operating therewith, a registering table associated with each oneof said units, endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove a printedsheet from one of said printing units and deposit it onto theregistering table associated with an adjacent unit, means provided bysaid sheet conveying means maintaining positive control of the sheetwhen the same is being transferred from said printing unit to saidregistering t-able, power driving means for said units, and means fordisconnecting any one of said units from said drivmg means.

20. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality ofprinting units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bedco-v operating therewith, a registering table associated with each oneof said units, sheet forwarding lmeans carried by said registeringtables, endless gripper'chains adapted to remove a printed sheet fromthe impression cylinder of one of said units and deposit it onto thesheet forwarding means of the registering table associated with anadjacent unit, power driving means for said units,

and means for disconnecting any one of said units from said drivingmeans.

BURT D. STEVENS. EDWARD F. DUDLEY. ERNEST A. VERRINDER.

